FGF4 stimulates proliferation and mineralization of hPDLSCs.

<p>(A) hPDLSCs at passage 3 were labeled with the indicated primary antibodies and then analyzed by flow cytometer. The cells were incubated for 48 h with 50 ng/ml FGF4 and/or 100 ng/ml (B), or with each of MAPK inhibitors (C) in 96-multiwell plates. The cells were processed for cell proliferation assay. **p<0.01 vs. GM alone. ^#p<0.05 vs. FGF4 treatment alone. (D) hPDLSCs were incubated in the presence of DAG with and without 50 ng/ml FGF4 and 100 ng/ml anti-FGF4 for 14 days and then were processed for Alizarin red staining. (E) Absorbance of the dye was determined at 560 nm. hPDLSCs were also processed for analysis of ALP activity (F) and mRNA expression (G) after 5 days of differentiation. *p<0.05 vs. DAG alone. F4, FGF4; GM, growth medium; NC, non-significant.